Construction approved for the Education and Research Center for Agriculture and Life Sciences

CALS Office

November 9, 2017

Hit 411

The CALS building (No. 200) was constructed in 2003 and was originally planned to accommodate a faculty of 106 full-time professors. As of 2017, however, CALS’ size has expanded to include 124 full-time professors, with research funding more than doubling. The College is therefore facing a space shortage on the Seoul National University (SNU) campus. Professors and students are currently lacking suitable spaces for education and research activities.

Since November 2015, CALS has vigorously advanced plans for constructing an Education and Research Center for Agriculture and Life Sciences to extend the College’s capacity. CALS obtained SNU headquarters’ approval for construction in June this year, thanks to the remarkable efforts of our executive committee and its members.

The Education and Research Center for Agriculture and Life Sciences will be constructed near the CALS building, at the site where the SNU Newspaper building is currently located. In the proposed plan, CALS, the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, and the SNU Newspaper will share the new building. The new Center will have seven floors above ground and two floors below ground level (12,000 m2 in total). On the rooftop, a glass greenhouse will be installed, to be used for research and education purposes.

Development will cost 26.7 billion KRW in total. Planning and design, including the design competition and construction documentation, began in June 2017. Groundbreaking is expected in July 2018, after the the demolition of the existing building. The project is expected to be completed in December 2020.

Current funding secured from CALS and matching funds from SNU do not sufficiently cover the estimated development cost; thus, CALS launched a capital campaign, reaching out to alumni and industry partners starting in June. More information on participation can be found on the CALS website (http://calseng.snu.ac.kr/). Generous donations are greatly appreciated and will be honored with many types of naming opportunities.